Princess Celestia's Secret
by Maggie O'Casiry
Summary: For many years, Princess Celestia has kept a huge secret, and it often weighed her down. However, she comes to realize her secret is the key to repairing the Mirror into the Reflection World. After many years, Princess Celestia is reunited with her true love, Good King Sombra. This story dives into the past and shows more of what happened with Celestia and Sombra.


Princess Celestia's Secret

By: Maggie O'Casiry

Chapter 1

Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her library in the Canterlot Castle. She pulled book after book off her shelves scanning the pages with her magic. Years had gone by it felt since the Mirror to Sombra's world had shattered and she was not going to give up. Sombra had consumed the evil, but she did not believe it was unbreakable. For ages she had been trying to figure out a solution to rid him of the evil he had selflessly took upon himself. A sigh floated out of her and she slumped down at the one table. The books weren't exactly helping. She pulled out her sacred box and unlocked it. It broke her heart seeing the broken pieces of the Mirror again. Gazing into the shards, she saw her reflection filled with so much love for the one pony. Then she lit up, she knew what to do and how to fix the Mirror and save Sombra.

Excitedly, she put the box away and went galloping down the halls. Princess Luna stepped in the path with a confused expression on her face and questioned, "Sister, what are you doing up at this hour?"

Princess Celestia glanced out of the window and saw the stars shining and knew it was the middle of the night. Then she informed, "I couldn't sleep, but I figured out the solution to get back to my Sombra."

"We've been over this and Star Swirl warned you since the portal was first created not to."

"I know, I know, but this time it will fix it without destroying either world, I am sure of it."

"Well whatever, solution you have come up with can wait until morning, you need your rest."

Princess Celestia sighed and nodded reluctantly retreating to her chamber.

As soon as she rose the sun, she rushed off to the Crystal Empire. There she found Princess Cadance tending to Flurry Heart along with Shining Armor. "Greetings! What a surprise to see you here?" commented Princess Cadance.

"I see you are busy, but I need your help. If all goes as planned, it should not take long at all, but it has to be you."

"Sure I'll gladly help you. What is the issue?"

"Return to Canterlot with me and I'll show you." Princess Cadance kissed Shining Armor's cheek and Flurry Heart's forehead before departing.

Once they arrived back at the royal palace, Princess Celestia led her down to the secret room where the structure of the Mirror remained. Then she opened the box revealing the pieces to her dear friend. Elaborately, she described the plan and went over it several times, so that every detail was perfectly understood. Finally they were ready to try it. Using their magic, the two placed the shards together in the shape they were supposed to be on the ground. Princess Celestia sucked in her breath hoping the plan would work. She nodded and placed her front hoof delicately on the glass. Princess Cadance closed her eyes and concentrated using all the love inside of her. Then she channeled it into Celestia's hoof.

Celestia felt her hoof fall beneath the glass and make contact with another hoof. Her picture of Sombra in her mind melted around her as if she was there once more. She saw evil Sombra, but then the darkness drained away and his clouded eyes became pure. "Celestia?" he inquired gazing to her. "Are you actually here?"

She answered, "Not yet, this is only a vision, but so far the plan is working, which means, I will be there shortly."

"I can hardly wait!"

The vision faded and she opened her eyes to see Princess Cadance sitting on the ground worn out. "Are you alright?"

The young princess stated, "Yes, but more importantly, did it work?"

"I believe so. Thank you so much!"

"Of course. May I ask, what exactly happened and how did it work?"

"You are a soul of true love, the symbol of love beyond Equestria. The Mirror was repaired by using your powers to make contact with my true love. I needed you to flow the magic into my hoof, so I could reach through and touch his hoof. Then our love with yours was strong enough to chase the darkness out of him and reconstruct the Mirror. Plus thanks to your connection to his world and ours, you were able to stop the worlds from destroying each other. Now at long last, he and I can be together forever with no issues. Oh Cadance, you have no clue how much this means to me. You know what!? You should journey with me and meet Sombra and see his world."

"Maybe, but first explain how in Equestria I am connected to his world when I only discovered it moments ago." Princess Celestia grinned innocently, but didn't speak a word. She glanced at the portal hinting she would reveal more later.

Chapter 2

In the past . . . about 30 years ago . . . Sombra's World . . .

Celestia lied in bed with Sombra sharing kisses over and over. It was her favorite place to be only because he was there and that was all that mattered to her. "I love you with all my heart!" she declared.

"I love you too, you are my everything!" he insisted.

Both of them were smiling like never before and it was going awesome. All of a sudden, fear disturbed the content expression of the sun royal. "Oh Sombra!" she cried.

"What's wrong?" he implored pausing.

"I heard hoof steps, I thought you said we are alone in the castle."

Confused he insisted, "We are, no pony is supposed to be near. My guards are at the entrance, there is no way. Maybe you imagined it because you are used to Star Swirl scolding you in the past for being here. Shall we continue?" Hesitantly she nodded. Only a few seconds passed and she perked her head up having heard the hoof steps again. Sombra kissed her cheek to ease her concern.

Just then the door flew open and there stood Princess Amore, a dear friend of Celestia's. She huffed a breath and claimed, "Now wonder Star Swirl struggled keeping you under control. I told you to stop coming here and what do you do? You go and combine the two worlds. You are unbelievable Celestia. We are returning to Equestria right this second!"

"I'm sorry, we just got carried away, a little. There is no harm done. Please let me stay longer with him."

"Absolutely not! Be glad I haven't destroyed the Mirror yet because if you keep it up, I will."

"Alright! I'll return. Farewell Sombra, I will be back as soon as I can. I love you!" She kissed him and he held her tight not wanting to release her.

A week went by and Celestia hadn't managed to slip away to be with her true love. She woke up with a pounding headache and could not get herself to move, but her heart ached for Sombra. She felt an extremely strong pull tugging her towards the Mirror and she knew she had to get to him. Using all of her strength she staggered to her hooves and tried to walk, but her strength was too thin. Her legs buckled and she was trapped on the floor. All she could do was crawl, but it took too much effort.

It took her nearly an hour to make it part way down the hallway and now her headache was a thousand times worse. Her breathing was shallow, but she noticed the closer she got to the portal, the more alive she felt. It was healing her, so she had to get to Sombra and use his strength to raise her up. Alas she was near enough, she was able to rise to her hooves and could walk. Celestia opened the door that led to where the portal was hidden, but hoof steps drummed on the ground behind her. "And where do you think you are going?" came the voice of Princess Amore.

Celestia met her eyes with pleading in her own and begged, "Please I have to get to him. I am really weak today and the portal is calling to me. When I left my room, I had to crawl because I was too weak to stand. As I near the Mirror, my strength is replenished."

"Not happening, but nice try. I will take you back to bed and have a nurse come examine you."

"All I need is Sombra."

Princess Amore blocked her path and folded her hooves. Celestia attempted to squeeze passed, but the Crystal Princess would have nothing of it and teleported her friend back to bed. She hurried to follow and saw how drastically worse Celestia was. "Wow you weren't kidding the Mirror was healing you, I wonder why. Promise me please you will stay here and I will go get help." For once Princess Celestia nodded and her best friend rushed off.

Moments later, she returned with the royal nurse, who started running tests immediately. It was taking a while because the symptoms the ruler was displaying was throwing the nurse off. Eventually, she decided to do one final test on the royal and was stunned when she saw the result. Baffled she remarked, "I found the cause of your distress, Princess. I do not know how in Equestria, but I am certain you do. Your majesty, you bear a filly."

Princess Amore's and Celestia's jaw dropped. Gently the Crystal leader said, "Thank you Nurse, please leave us." The mare exited and then she hollered, "What the Tartarus were you thinking!? This foal will destroy both worlds and make the balance off. Nothing will survive! I told you not to spend any time with Sombra. Now both worlds will suffer an eternity, to the point no pony may even survive! This foal is the undoing! I should have obliterated the portal years ago, then none of this would have happened. What a fool I was? Star Swirl warned me you could not be trusted in that other world and I see he was right! There are so many problems with this, I don't even know where to begin."

Tears poured down Celestia's face and she countered, "What if you are wrong? What if our foal is the key to save both worlds?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Let me ask you this, what happens when you spend too much time in Sombra's World?"

"The line between the two becomes thin and odd coincidences occur, which if that barrier is broken would cause the two realms to deteriorate."

"Exactly and now there is a baby that is capable of that because that foal is the barrier. Equestria is doomed!" Amore buried her face in her hooves overcome with fear.

"What about me? Will I even make it to the birth because I feel like Tartarus?"

"Yes, I know how to fix that with a simple potion. Celestia, I know you love Sombra and cannot stand the thought of being without him. However, you no longer have a choice, you absolutely must not enter his world."

"Why? I want to tell him the news immediately."

"Your body is not capable of dealing with the barrier, especially not when that baby contains both linage in their blood. It will tear you apart, and then neither you nor the baby will make it to birth. For both of your sakes, you must not cross that boarder. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, but–"

"You know what it'll cost you if you choose to disobey. You are very wise, but you could easily make another foolish mistake. I'll brew up the potion for you and then begin searching for a solution to save Equestria from certain doom."

Princess Amore did not get started right away on the potion and went to the Mirror. She stepped through and made her way to Sombra's castle. Broken heartedly, she found the king and informed, "Celestia will not be able to come visit for a very long while. She is unwell and if she crosses the barrier, it will destroy her. I don't trust her, so I will seal the portal and only my magic will be able to undo it. It may be a year until you get to see her again. I am really sorry, but I wanted you to know what was going on." Sombra sighed knowing there was nothing he could do to help Celestia or stop the Mirror from being sealed.

Chapter 3

Months dragged by and Amore kept searching for better solutions to rescue Equestria, but struggled. She remained at her friend's side though and helped her keep her growing belly a secret. The royal spent less time outside and hide within the walls of her palace. It helped that it was winter time though too. It really bothered Celestia that Sombra didn't know and she wanted to tell him more than anything.

Princess Amore found the best solution and knew Celestia would kick and scream at even the mention of such a notion. As a result, she had to toy with her best friend's emotions. Constantly, she would torment Celestia on the mistake she had made and more than necessary insisted the baby would destroy all of the worlds. Her voice quivered and shook terrified, each time she spoke of it and the fear wove its way into the royal's head.

Today Amore was at it again, except she was alone in a room ranting off her fears. Celestia was eavesdropping and she was well aware, which is why she was doing it. Terror built up in her as she absorbed every word coming from Amore. When she could resist no longer, she burst in the room crying. She fell to her knees and pleaded, "We must find a solution, I cannot let Equestria suffer for my one small mistake. Please Amore, we must do something, anything!"

Amore honestly answered, "I only found one solution so far and I wish to keep searching for a better answer."

"What is it?"

"If I find nothing else, I will tell you."

Before either of them knew it, Princess Celestia lied in bed in great agony. The royal nurse pony was there trying to keep the sun royal calm, but her heart was racing with fear as all of Amore's words echoed in her mind. "Celestia, for five minutes focus and stop thinking about the crisis at hoof!" ordered Amore.

Before long, a filly crying rang throughout the bedroom and a sigh of relief filled the room. The nurse passed the pink filly to her mother and tears fell from Princess Celestia's delicate eyes. She gazed awestruck at her beautiful daughter, but then questioned, "How is she a pegasus, Sombra is a unicorn and I an alicorn?"

Amore guessed, "Genes can be odd sometimes. I guess she got the wings from you and lacked a horn."

"Yet I sense she has very powerful magic."

"Indeed, that is strange – I sense it too."

"Oh I love her so much!"

Princess Amore sighed sadly and reminded the new mother, "Don't forget she will destroy Equestria and Sombra's World, we must act immediately upon it. I only found one solution, but it will succeed. Princess Celestia, you must cast her far from here, such as the Frozen North, or the Crystal Empire. I know Evil King Sombra has it hidden and enslaved, but that is the only location in the entire realm that is far enough not to destroy the land here. The farther the filly is from you, the better. Listen, I will raise her and make sure she is treated as the princess she is."

"Give her up?!" Princess Celestia cried horrified clutching the newborn to her chest. "Absolutely not! I will raise her right here and we'll just have to hope the magic from the worlds combined will not harm any world. I will not let her go!"

"Then so be it, if the worlds cave in. Equestria will be in more ruins than your old castle and it will be your entire fault!"

"No there must be a third choice, there has to be!"

"But there isn't. I spent months scouring the land for an answer and there is none other! If you hadn't taken it too far with Sombra we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. You screwed up, now you must pay the consequences." The room fell silent, except for the sound of Celestia sniffling. Calmer Amore stated, "You should name her though and I'll be sure you send your love with her."

"Love, of course that's perfect! She is the daughter of true love, her name must reflect so. I shall call her, Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadance for short. She will forever be the Princess of Love. You shall not take her from me, for she is my only joy!"

"I'm sorry Celestia, but you and I both know it is for the best." Amore tried to take the filly from her mother's arms, but Celestia screamed and shattered the nearest window and Cadance started crying again. "Fine have it your way, raise her, and destroy Equestria. But don't come crying to me because I tried to help you, but you'd have nothing of it. Now if you'd excuse me, I must go aid my ponies that are suffering, far less than Equestria will. And do not come to me as a friend!"

Amore vanished and Princess Celestia sighed content that she would have her way. She vowed, she would never let anything happen to her land. The sun ruler cherished the hours of the day with her daughter, despite being extremely worn out.

By night, she was quickly asleep. She awoke suddenly to Cadance crying and sprang from bed. The sound no longer came from the crib beside her, but now out in the hall. She hurried and saw a hooded figure carrying the baby. "Stop!" ordered Princess Celestia.

The pony threw the cape off and it was Princess Amore. She assured, "It's for your own good." Into the air Amore vanished taking the baby with her.

Furious, Celestia teleported to the Crystal Empire, but there was a barrier that would not let her enter. Then Amore alone appeared and tears brimmed in her eyes. Softly she spoke, "You are my best friend, it pains me to hurt you so badly, but it had to be done. I vow to take excellent care of Princess Cadance. I will be her mother and she shall not know that she is related to you. My husband, is her father. For her safety and yours and Equestria's, I placed this boarder to keep you out. I truly am sorry. Goodbye my friend."

Princess Celestia never cried so much in her life. She tried the Mirror, but Amore had it also sealed from her. For the very first time, there was no one she could turn to; no lover, no sister, and now no best friend. She was in pain alone.

Chapter 4

Princess Cadance grew quickly and adored her parents and they loved her. They struggled raising her from all the horrors that tormented the empire. It got to the point things were even worse and Evil King Sombra gained more power. He struck Princess Amore and she began to turn into a statue. "Momma!" shrieked young Cadance galloping over as Evil Sombra laughed wickedly.

Amore ordered, "Get out of here! Go as far away from here as you can! Do not stop running until evil follows no more. You must make it beyond the mountains. I promise all the horrors will never be remembered, but you need to leave now."

"What about you, momma, and papa?"

"Forget about us! You need to get to safety. We will be right behind you," fibbed the mare. The filly nodded and ran with her wings helping carry her. Princess Amore watched her treasure disappear from sight with tears in her eyes. Then she cast the spell for it to be enacted as soon as Cadance got over the mountains.

The filly ran and ran and ran. She saw the mountains and fought through the blizzard to reach them. Freezing cold, she made it to the foot of the mountain. She glanced behind her and saw Evil Sombra's shadow at her heels. Terrified she went faster. Alas she reached the barrier that kept Princess Celestia out and Evil Sombra away from the rest of Equestria. She crossed it and all of a sudden, she paused baffled. Princess Cadance had no recollection of how she arrived to that spot, nor why she was so scared. Puzzled she began to wander forth aimlessly. "Momma, papa? Where are you?" she questioned over and over scanning the green mountain for her beloved family.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was reading in her library, when she felt a pulse of magic. She gasped, knowing at once Cadance was free from the Crystal Empire. Immediately, she conjured a vision and saw the confused filly wandering about near tears and it broke her heart. She teleported to that location immediately and appeared startling the filly. "Who, who are you?" sought Cadance frightened.

"I am Princess Celestia and I have come to rescue you," the powerful ruler informed.

"What about my parents?"

"They are trapped in the Crystal Empire and will never be freed, I fear. I will raise you like I was always meant to. Forgive me please for never being in your life until now, but I was forced to keep my distance. I know you don't know me, but I know you and I love you. You are the Princess of Love and I can feel you have powerful magic, beyond anything I've ever seen before. I could make you an alicorn like myself, so you may harness your magic, if you would like."

"I could have a horn?"

"Yes."

"Please then, I feel my magic is going to explode, if I don't use it." There was a bright flash and when it faded the little filly was an alicorn. She was over the moon leaping about squealing excitedly. She then looked to Princess Celestia and saw her weeping uncontrollably. "What's the matter?"

"Everything! I miss out on so much because of Amore. You have grown so much and so beautifully! You are incredible, but you have suffered more Tartarus than some of the most horrid monsters that reside there. I feel so bad for everything you have endured. I promise from here on out, it will only be sunshine and happiness for you my darling." Princess Cadance embraced the alicorn before her and the two held on for a long moment.

Chapter 5

In the present . . .

Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance entered the Mirror and the reflection world appeared. "Celestia!" shrieked Sombra with joy. He embraced her and then kissed her not giving her a chance to breathe. He saw her expression was awkward, so he stopped and she glanced over her shoulder at the pony of love. "Who is the friend you brought with you?"

Celestia introduced, "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza–"

"Princess Cadance is fine," the mare cut in and Celestia beamed.

"She is the Princess of Love because she is the product of parents that share the most beautiful, everlasting, true love. With her husband, Shining Armor, and her daughter, Flurry Heart, they watch over the Crystal Empire."

Sombra commented, "Well she is such a gem, just like you. Her eyes are the exact same shade as yours and even sparkle the same way! That is incredible because there is no other pony that has eyes like you, but hers are identical to yours. Plus she and you both have pink and purple in your manes. Are you two related somehow?"

Princess Cadance replied not certain of her answer seeing Sombra was right with the similarities, "No, she took me under her wing once disaster befell my home and destroyed all I knew. The only connection is that my mother was her best friend once."

"How odd, you would think Celestia and you were somehow related as much as you look alike."

"We are," added Celestia.

"How?" Cadance questioned.

"We must talk it over inside Sombra's palace, where we can have tea and sit down."

The two could not wait to hear the relation and hurried inside. A servant brought everypony a cup of hot tea and Cadance and Sombra gazed eagerly waiting to hear the story. Sombra took Celestia's hoof in his and then implored, "So how are you two related? And how did she not hear of it until now?"

Celestia started, "Sombra, do you remember that day we got carried away and were messing around?" Puzzled what it had to do with anything, he nodded. "Then do you recall Amore coming to tell you I was unwell and could not see you for a long while?" Again he nodded. "Well that was because I was with filly and crossing the Mirror would upset the balance and killed the baby and I. I hate that I was never given a chance to tell you."

"You were with filly!" Sombra and Cadance exclaimed.

"Yes, but it was a Tartarus of a journey thanks to Amore. She feared the baby would destroy this world and Equestria and planted more fear in my veins each day. The day our filly was born, Amore told me I had to cast her away, but obviously I refused. In the middle of the night, Amore took her away despite trying to stop her. I never felt a pain like that before. Disaster over took the Crystal Empire and at long last my daughter and I were reunited. Still I never told her my secret because she loved who she thought were her parents.

"It came to me yesterday, the solution to solve the worlds colliding was with our daughter. She is the Princess of Love because despite everything, we never ceased loving each other. She is the daughter of true love. Now alas the conflict has been solved and I can finally be with you forever, I will be your always. All because of Princess Cadance!"

Their faces were shocked and neither could find any words in their cloud of thoughts. Several long moments passed by and it built up inside of Celestia. Alas she burst into tears and Sombra pulled her close placing her head on his shoulder. Gently he rocked her, but it hardly soothed her at all. Princess Cadance forced words to form, "Listen, I understand why you did not tell me before, but honestly if there was any mother I would want as mine, it would be you. Besides, you were always a mother to me, but knowing it is official, makes everything that much greater!"

Sombra then responded, "Honestly Celestia, it is the greatest honor across all realms to be the father of your daughter. If you are worried either of us are upset, we are not. I am especially delighted that she was able to bring us back together!"

For at least an hour, the three continued on the same subject and Sombra got to know his daughter as well as her getting to know her father. Celestia found it amusing because she saw how alike the two were in personality. Then Sombra piped, "Celestia, my love, there is a small problem in what you said earlier. You said we could certainly now be together forever, no issues. However, I cannot abandon my world, and Equestria needs both you and Luna."

Princess Celestia grinned and informed, "Already took care of that. I was planning on this working, so I told Twilight and her friends they will be taking over Equestria and Luna and I will be retiring. See? Perfect, we will spend eternity together."

"Then I guess we should make it official. Princess Celestia, you are the light of my life and all I treasure. I cannot believe it, but we have the most beautiful daughter and she brought us together – literally. She is the Princess of Love only because of the passion we feel for each other. I have everything I could ever want, except there is one thing missing and that is you. Celestia, will you be my Queen to my King?" He knelt down and on his hoof held a glittering gem.

She threw her hooves around his neck and kissed him as she cried out, "Yes and a thousand times over! I wish we could have ages ago, but it's better now than never. Oh Sombra, you are my everything!"

The two held the wedding in Sombra's World, to avoid questions from Equestria as there was never any signs that Princess Celestia was in love. Plus she didn't want that kind of attention on her. After the wedding, Princess Celestia moved in with her true love and they were finally happy and finally together. Princess Cadance came to visit her parents once a week and sometimes would bring Shining Armor and Flurry Heart, other times she would come alone. The family could be all together without destroying the worlds all thanks to Princess Celestia's secret.


End file.
